Balanced safety anchor



April 1961 c. A. WINSLOW 2,981,219

BALANCED SAFETY ANCHOR Filed Feb. 15, 1957 FIG]. [MIR-17 United States Patent 2,981,219 BALANCED SAFETY ANCHOR Charles A. Winslow, Oakland, Calif. (205 Martinique Ave., Paradise Cay, Tiburon, Calif.)

Filed Feb. 15, 1957, Ser. No. 640,392 8 Claims. (Cl. 114-208) The present invention relates to new and novel features in an anchoring device wherein the design and proportions of the anchor are relied on for holding power, rather than its weight as has been the case in former conventional designs. Conventional anchors, commonly used in the past have been relatively heavy in proportion to their holding power and/ or clumsy to handle and hard to stow when not in use.

For purposes of classification and to distinguish clearly the advantages of the present invention, anchors in general can be divided into three groups, the so-called kedge anchor, the stockless anchor and the Danforth-type anchor in general appearance similar to US. Navy Department Mark II LWT-type anchor.

All of the foregoing anchors have advantages under certain circumstances but all have the disadvantage that they have normally inclined surfaces which bring up from the bottom considerable amounts of heavy mud, clay, etc., when the anchor is raised. In addition to this bad feature, especially in small sizes, where anchors must be raised by hand, they all have the disadvantage that the flukes and/ or stock of the anchor have a tendency to dig into the hull of a vessel and sear the bottom and sides while the anchor in being drawn up either by hand or power means.

In the present invention this disadvantage of conventional anchors is overcome by a novel design which is not only simple to manufacture but has holding power equal to or better than the best of the foregoing types of anchors previously mentioned.

For instance, in the form shown on the drawings the anchor can be made entirely from castings, either as a die casting or a sand casting, with no machining required to complete the assembly other than what tools may be necessary to clean out holes formed by stock cores. The relatively flat form of the anchor is not only simple to manufacture but simple to use and stow aboard a vessel. Due to the fact that it has a three point contact when lowered to the bottom, the points of the flukes have a tendency to dig in immediately regardless of the type bottom onto which the anchor is lowered. Therefore, due to the fact that the crowns are located on the lower corners and the anchor is balanced so that approximately one-half the weight of the shank is added to the weights of the flukes, any dragging action has a tendency to tip the points of the flukes down and make a planing surface downwardly on approximately a 30 angle to penetrate any type of overlayer to good holding, which may be clay or silt below a soft mud bottom. Therefore, weight is not a relatively important factor as the digging and holding action of the anchor are more dependent on the relatively thin cross section design than the weight of the unit.

Another novel and important feature of the invention is that even though it may be buried in hard clay or caught under a root, rock, stump, etc., it can be relied on to hold to the limit of the strength of the materials of which it is constructed as long as the proper scope or length of anchor chain or cable is provided to insure the proper attack angle of the flukes on the bottom. On the other hand, when the anchor cable is drawn aboard a vessel and the pull on the anchor shank becomes vertical the present anchor invention will break loose from the bottom more easily than other conventional anchors for the reason that it is pinioned or balanced close to the center of the 2,981,219 Patented Apr. 25, 1961 ICC total area resisting the vertical pull, thus providing a distinct advantage when the anchor must be broken out and hauled aboard.

Another important feature of the invention is the fact that, should the anchor be hopelessly fouled under a rock, root, stump, etc., it can be retrieved without damage to the anchor or ground tackle, boat, etc., by the provision of a safety shear pin, which normally limits the travel of the points of the flukes to a 30 attack angle on either side of the shank, thus when an anchor is fouled and a vertical pull is exerted on the shank, the shear pin of a predetermined strength can be sheared and this provides a safety feature wherein the shank swings back approximately -160 making it possible to pull the anchor out backwards with no damage to anything except the shear pin which can be replaced in a few minutes after the anchor is retrieved. This feature of the invention makes it unnecessary to provide a second line or control cable to the anchor as has been common practice in the past and illustrated by such patents as #2,674,970, dated April 13, 1954, to C. F. Andrews, #2,540,867, issued February 6, 1951, to D. V. Douglas and others.

I have determined that safe operation of vessels to be moored by anchors and released from anchorage embraces other features than those present while the ground tackle is being employed on the bottom or being raised. For instance, getting the anchor aboard ship and providing safe stowage in rough weather is also an important feature, as is illustrated by Patent #735,985, issued August 11, 1903, to J. Kitt and also Patent #323,774, dated August 4, 1885, to S. Baxter and others.

The present invention provides not only a balanced anchor wherein the anchor comes up with the flukes parallel with the shank, thus conveniently shedding mud, rocks, gravel, etc., but also due to its novel design in combination with a novel hawsepipe, the anchor can be completely withdrawn inside of the vessel without the danger of the flukes or crowns striking the hull. Moreover the anchor can be withdrawn completely within the hawsepipe and if desired a closure or door can be provided to close either manually or automatically after the anchor is withdrawn into the hawsepipe by power means or otherwise. Thus, a streamlined, flush closure is possible for such vessels as submarines, streamlined yachts, flying boats, etc.

Therefore, the broad object of the invention is to provide an anchor that first, can be lowered from a hawsepipe by simply releasing the tension on the anchor cable, the provision of an anchor that lands on the bottom with a three point contact, that is, the points of the flukes as a common contact and the crowns or stabilizing fins on the opposite corners from the flukes and a shank pinion approximately half-way on the total area between the crowns and the points of the flukes, so that as the anchor lands on the bottom, it can be caused to plane downwardly through silt or loose sand to a firm underlayer, first by the resistance and rotating effect of the crowns to cause the points to dip and finally by the total surface area of the twin flukes which have a minimum resistance and excellent digging power due to its relatively small cross sectional area in proportion to its large fluke area and novel design rather than the weight of the unit itself.

After use the anchor can be raised and broken clear of the bottom even though hopelessly fouled, with a safety shear pin provision, more useful on small sizes, and then withdrawn up into the hawsepipe by either a manually or power operated cable thus completing the use of ground tackle equipment and safe stowage without the necessity of manual manipulation to cause the anchor to safely enter the hawsepipe.

Furthermore, as previously stated, a door can be provided to close the hawsepipe which can be operated either manually or automatically as desired.

Therefore, referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 illustrates generally the bow of a conventional cruiser indicating an anchor hanging from the novel hawsepipe, ready to be withdrawn therein and safely stowed by simply winding in the anchor cable.

Fig. 2 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the bow of a vessel indicating a section through the hawsepipe illustrating the method by which the anchor is withdrawn by power means and showing a door, if desired, which can be closed either manually, electrically or automatically by the upper crowns of the anchor as it is withdrawn into the hawsepipe thus pulling the door closed behind it and remaining secure until released for further use by slacking the anchor cable.

Fig. 3 is a view of the fiat side of the anchor invention indicating a shank positioned between large area twin flukes and pinioned on approximately half the area between the bottom and the points of the fiukes and further showing the crowns positioned on the lower edge near the outside edges of the anchor.

Fig. 4 is a bottom view of the anchor invention looking from below the crowns toward the points of the flukcs and shank and illustrates the relatively small cross sectional area of the anchor.

Fig. 5 is a side view of the anchor illustrating the points of the fiukes being parallel with the shank when the anchor is raised by attachment of a cable to the eye in the upper end of the shank. It further illustrates the swing position of the shank to a maximum of approximately 30 from dead center to the optimum position of the shank when carried to its operating position on the bottom.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along the lines 6-6 of Fig. 3 and illustrates the position of the shank and the relation of the stop means and shear pin with the shank, shown vertically disposed as when being raised off the, bottom on a 30 angle as in normal anchoring use and swung back approximately 155l60 as when the shear pin would be broken, thus releasing the anchor shank to swing back for withdrawing the anchor out backwards from a position where the flukes may be fouled under a rock, root, etc.

Fig. 7 further illustrates the method by which the upper crowns of the anchor contact a spring latch on the inside of a hawsepipe closure, thus as the anchor is withdrawn into the hawsepipe the crowns contact the spring latch and close the door as the anchor is withdrawn into the pipe, thus securing the anchor and the door with a complete closure of the hawsepipe, as might be desired in the case of flying boats or where a complete closure of the hawsepipe is desired.

Referring to the drawing, 10 in Fig. 1 illustrates the anchor invention generally hanging from a hawsepipe 11, of a conventional power cruiser 12. It is to be understood that the bottom part 13 of the anchor outweighs the top or fluke part 14 of the anchor, thus the points of the fiukes 15 are always maintained vertically disposed when the anchor is hanging from a cable 16 as indicated in Fig. l.

A pulley is indicated at 17 over which the cable is drawn to cause the anchor to be raised and drawn in to the formed outside end of the hawsepipe 11 for stowage when not in use.

Similar reference characters are used throughout the several views wherever practical.

Referring to Fig. 2, the anchor generally is referred to by the reference character 10. The numeral 19 indicates the upper end of the hawsepipe 11, the numeral 16 indicates a cable passing over a pulley 17 and controlling a winch 18, and the numeral 9 indicates the shank of the anchor held in a hawsepipe 11 by the cable 16. The relatively heavy crowns 20 are shown as drawn into the hawsepipe until they fit snugly top and bottom, thus preventing further movement after the assembly of the cable 16, the shank 9 and the anchor 10 are all drawn up snug in the pipe. When desired, a door 21 can be provided, pinioned on a hinge 22 and arranged to close the hawsepipe as indicated at 23. A spring clip 24 is provided which is designed to be contacted by the crowns of the anchor 20 when it is drawn into the hawsepipe by the cable as indicated at 16. This is more clearly shown in Fig. 7 and will be described later.

It is thus to be understood that the combined design of the anchor and hawsepipe make it possible to lower the anchor for use by either manual or power means and after use to retrive and stow the anchor in a hawsepipe by the same means without the necessity of any manual manipulation whatsoever to safely haul the anchor in, stow and secure it, even to the extent if necessary, of providing a closure or door which can be automatically closed after the anchor is drawn into the pipe by the means shown and more fully described and illustrated in Fig. 7.

Referring to Fig. 3, the shank 9 is shown as positioned centrally between the fiukes 15 with a suitable eye 25 above and pinioned as indicated at 26 on a shaft 8 which passes completely through the width of the anchor. A shear pin 27 is provided which passes through the shank 9 and the two spacer plates 28, which are also pinioned on the pinion shaft 8 as indicated at 26. A slot 29 is provided so that the shank 9 can swing back to approximately 160 from center when the shear pin 27 is broken. This is more clearly shown in Fig. 6 and will be described in detail later. Ribs 30 are provided to strengthen the crowns 20 and to prevent them from being caught or hung up on rocks, etc., which might prevent the anchor from properly holding when it is dragged ahead by the cable and shank 9.

In Fig. 4 the anchor is viewed from the bottom and like reference characters are used indicating the various parts, thus it will be noted that the spacers 28 which are riveted by a shear pin into the shank 9 are positioned between the ribs 34 which run parallel from the top to the bottom of the flukes. It is to be understood from this view that all of the parts, that is, first, the casting comprising the flukes, crowns, ribs, etc., second, the shank 9 and, third, the two stop spacers 28 are all centered and held in place by the shaft 8, thus comprising the entire completely cast unit of the anchor invention.

Fig. 5 generally indicates a side view of the anchor in a vertical position with the crowns and ribs 20 and 30 swinging the points of the fiukes 15 up and parallel with the axis of the shank 9. 9A indicates the relative position of the shank of the anchor in operating position approximately 30 from either side of dead center of the shank 9. The movement of the shank 9 is limited by the spacers 28 which are riveted through the shank 9 by a shear pin 27 and since they swing on the axis 8 they control and limit the operation of the shank by the points 31 which contact the surface of the anchor between the flukes at a web 33 that is unitary with the flukes 15 and connects them together. stiffening ribs 34 are provided on the flukes which run from the tips at 15 to the bottom or lowermost part of the anchor 13.

Fig. 6 indicates a diagrammatic sketch taken on the line 66 of Figures 3 and 4 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows. It illustrates the relation of the various parts and particularly the operation of the shear pin 27 which permits the shank 9, shown when vertically disposed, to swing to the position 9A, 30 from center on either side for operating position of the anchor and further to position 9B, further on, which permits the anchor to be drawn out backwards when the shear pin 27 is broken. In this case the three parts, the shank 9, the stop spacers 28 are liberated to swing freely in any position until the shank, as shown at 9B, reaches the limit of travel in the slot 29 in the lowermost part of the anchor between the ribs 34. It is thus to be understood that in normal operation the parts 28 and shank 9 are all riveted together by a shear pin 27. Since the whole assembly is pinioned on the shaft 8, the 3 part unit normally revolves 30 on either side of center. This action is controlled and limited by the points 31 of the spacer and stop members 28 which limit its travel by contact with the anchor surface 33 between the ribs 34 and the lowermost part of the anchor. Furthermore, when the shear pin 27 is broken the shank 9 can swing freely back to the position shown at 98 until it reaches the limit of its travel in the slot 29. In this position the anchor can be drawn out backwards if fouled.

Referring to Fig. 7, the crown of the anchor 20 is shown contacting the spring clip 24, which is fastened to the swinging door 21, which indicates how the upper side of the crowns of the anchor 20 contact the clip 24 and pull the door 21 closed by swinging it on the hinge 22, thus closing the hawsepipe automatically as the anchor is drawn in, either manually or by power winch 18 as indicated in Fig. 2.

Therefore, having clearly described my invention, what Iclaim is:

1. In an anchor, a shaft, twin fiukes carried by said shaft with crowns positioned near the corners of the lower edges of said flukes, a shank pivotally supported relative to said flukes by said shaft between said twin fiukes and spaced therefrom, a pair of opposed inverted Yformed spacers between said flukes and said shank with limiting stop members on the lower points of the Y engaging portions of said ilukes in their extreme positions and a shear-pin through said shank and the upper ends of the Y-spacers securing the shank and the pair of spacers together and serving to control the normal angle of said shank with relation to said fiukes until said shear-pin is broken, said shank then being free to move beyond the normal angle.

2. An anchor comprising a normally horizontal shaft; twin flukes, each supported by said shaft at opposite ends thereof; a shank mounted on said shaft in between said fiukes for rotation relative to said flukes; a pair of spacer members, one on each side of said shank and mounted on said shaft for rotation relative to said flukes, each of said spacer members spacing each fluke from said shank and having a lower end providing a pair of stop means engageable with one of said flukes in the predetermined extreme rotational positions; and a shear-pin securing said spacer members to said shank against normal relative rotation, said shank being able to rotate separately from said spacer members when said shear-pin is broken by excessive pressure exerted on said stop means.

3. The anchor of claim 2 wherein said shaft lies above the gravitational center of said flukes.

4. The anchor of claim 2, wherein said fiukes are joined together by a web that is unitary with said flukes.

5. In an anchor, a shaft; twin liukes carried by said shaft; a shank supported for rotation relative to said flukes by said shaft between said fiukes; limiting stop means mounted on said shaft separately from said shank for rotation relative to said fiukes; second stop means on said flukes engaging said limiting stop means in extreme positions to define a normal angle of swing between said positions; and a shear-pin joining said shank to said limiting stop means and serving to prevent movement of said shank relative to said fiukes beyond said normal angle until said shear-pin is broken, said limiting stop means then being disconnected from said shank, so that said shank is then free to move relative to said fiukes far beyond said normal angle until said shank itself directly engages a portion of said flukes.

6. An anchor comprising a normally horizontal shaft; a pair of spaced-apart pointed fiukes of generally flat cross-section lying in a fiat plane and having parallel inner sides and curved outer sides and supported by said shaft at opposite ends thereof along a horizontal axis above the gravitational center of said flukes; a shank mounted on said shaft between said fiukes for rotation relative to said flakes; stop means mounted on said shaft separately from said shank for rotation relative to said flakes and engageable with at least one said fluke in two predetermined extreme rotational positions; and a shear-pin securing said stop means to said shank against relative rotation, said shank being able to rotate separately from said stop means when said shear-pin is broken by excessive pressure exerted on said stop means.

7. The anchor of claim 6 wherein said fiukes are provided with points, parallel ribs on the inside of the points, and ribbed crowns on the lower outside portions of said flukes, said ribs being on the inside of said flukes, in planes parallel to those of said ribbed crowns and transverse to the plane of said flukes.

8. An anchor comprising a normally horizontal shaft; pointed twin fiukes joined in a single casting of generally flat uniform cross-section and supported by said shaft, said fiukes having parallel ribs extending vertically from the fluke points to the bottom of the anchor and parallel ribbed crowns extending out transversely to the plane of said casting from near outer corners of the bottom edges of said flakes; a shank mounted on said shaft for rotation relative to said llukes; a pair of spacer members, one on each side of said shank and mounted on said shaft for rotation relative to said flukes, said spacer members spacing each fluke from said shank and having a lower end providing a pair of stop means engageable with said fiukes in the predetermined extreme rotational positions; and a sheanpin securing said spacer members to said shank against normal relative rotation, said shank being able to rotate separately from said spacer members when said shear-pin is broken by excessive pressure exerted on said stop means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 21,841 Northrop et al June 24, 1941 31.276 Winans et al Jan. 29, 1861 253,112 Scott Jan. 31, 1882 401,564 Laughlin Apr. l6, 1889 520,|77 Clark May 22, 1894 570,420 Baldt Oct. 27, I896 860,286 Eells July 16, 1907 906,023 Heuss Dec. 8, 1908 1,l58,l60 Frauenfclder Oct. 26, 1915 1,9l2.366 Hausenfluck -a June 6, 1933 l,9l8,l l9 Mclhecters July 11, I933 2,0l 2,751 Bach et al Aug. 27, i935 2,077,166 Clement Apr. 13, 1937 2,249,546 Danforth June [5, 1941 2,282,566 Danforth May l2, 1942 2,320,966 Danforth June 1, 1943 2,354,666 Danforth Apr. l, 1944 2,45l,7l9 Danforth Oct. [9, 1948 2,468,077 Kellum Apr. 26, 1949 2,480,188 Gardiner Apr. 30, 1949 2,510,867 Danforth June 6, 1950 2,576,390 Danforth Nov. 27, 1951 2,599,200 Rogers June 3, 1952 2,633,626 Danforth Apr. 7, I953 264L215 Danforth June 9, 1953 2,643,631 Danforth June 30, 1953 2,674,968 Danforth Apr. 13, 1954 2,674,969 Danforth Apr. 13, I954 2,701,539 Morel Feb. 8, 1955 2,705,467 Ogg et al Apr. 5, 1955 2,711,150 Ogg June 21,1955 2,743,695 Bowman May 1, 1956 2,743,696 Maxwell May 1, 1956 2,789,526 Gollner Apr. 23, 1957 2,798,447 Galloway July 9, I957 2,869,503 Winslow Jan. 20. 1959 

